Wagers and Wars
by Innyscent
Summary: A belated Valentine's Day fic in which Riley and Ben blow things up. Riley/Ben, oneshot.


**A/N: My first National Treasure fic, yay! I actually wrote this before Valentine's Day, but I'm a lazy procrastinator, so it's about a month late. **

**This story is Ben/Riley, which means it is boy/boy, which means it is _slash_. You no likey, you no readey, okay?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, blah blah, you know the drill.**

* * *

"Ben, we're going to die!"

"No we're not! Just give me a moment to think – "

"There's no time to think!" Riley yelled. "We have to get out of here, _now_!"

"Just wait – Riley, look out!"

But before Riley could do anything there was a flash of red light, and a blast so loud it drowned out their screams.

"I don't believe it!" Riley growled, throwing down his controller in frustration and glaring at the screen that now read, in bright pulsing letters, GAME OVER.

"We were so close!" Ben groaned. "Just one more door and we'd have made it!"

Riley turned to grin at his friend. "See, I told you video games weren't that bad."

Ben grinned teasingly back. "Okay, so maybe they're not _that _bad," he conceded. "But they're still a complete waste of time."

Chuckling, Riley leaned over to sort through a pile of games. "What do you want to play now? We could try _Halo._"

"What's that one about?"

"Blowing up aliens."

"Do you have anything that doesn't involve violence?" Ben asked, amused.

Riley rolled his eyes. "You can't have a video game without violence, Ben."

Ben laughed, and Riley inserted the _Halo_ disc into the console. The game loaded, and they began to play.

* * *

"See?" said Ben as they ate dinner that night. "You _can_ go a whole day without the computer."

Riley glanced over at his precious laptop, sitting lonely and abandoned on a desk nearby. He sighed mournfully. "She's calling to me, Ben."

"Come on, Riley. Just a few more hours," Ben smiled. "You've lasted this long."

"Why do you want me to stay away from her? If I make it to midnight, you lose the bet."

"I only made the bet because I wanted to prove to you that it was possible to last twenty-four hours without a computer."

"That's ridiculous. You bet that I couldn't go all day without a computer because you wanted to prove it was possible I could?"

Ben shrugged.

Riley was still staring at his laptop longingly. "You know, I was doing fine until you brought this up. Now I can't stop thinking about her."

Ben sighed. "Why is your laptop a female, Riley?"

"Her name's Charlotte," Riley informed him.

"Charlotte? Really?" Ben looked intrigued. "Did you name her after the ship?"

"Mm-hm."

"Why?"

"You know, this really isn't helping. Let's talk about something else." Riley jabbed his fork into a lump of white. "Lovely potatoes, aren't they?"

Ben gave him a curious glance, but said nothing.

* * *

It was 11:30, and Riley was staring at Charlotte as if he was a starving man and she a feast he couldn't touch. Ben had turned in for the night, but Riley hadn't been able to sleep, his mind ticking over with thoughts of his precious Charlotte.

11:32, and Riley was getting desperate. He'd lasted this long, but only with Ben as a distraction, and...and she was _calling_ him!

11:33, and he couldn't take it anymore. Ben would never find out, anyway.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" said a cheerful, synthetic voice as the laptop loaded, and Riley gaped at it, too shocked to be annoyed at the loud noise. Today was Valentine's Day, and he hadn't even known!

"Riley?" Ben's sleepy voice echoed up the hall. "What was that?"

"Uh, nothing!" Riley said hurriedly.

He was joined a moment later by Ben, who sighed as Riley grinned sheepishly. "You couldn't last another half-hour?" Ben asked, amused, and sat in the nearest armchair.

"Nope. Hey, Ben, did you know today was Valentine's Day? And all we did was sit around shooting things."

"You're right. I completely forgot about it. I hope I didn't keep you from chasing after some special girl."

Riley grinned. "Charlotte's the only girl in my life," he said, patting the laptop affectionately.

"Is there anyone you'd give up your computer for?" Ben teased, smiling.

Riley blushed and looked down, mumbling something unintelligible.

"Oh, so there is someone!" Ben said triumphantly. "Who is it?"

Riley looked up again, and said quietly, "There's only one person I'd give up my computer for, Ben."

Ben's smile faded. "Riley – "

"So what about you?" Riley interrupted, his voice falsely cheerful. "Anyone who can distract you from the lure of the past?"

Ben stared at him with an unreadable expression. "I was supposed to go to the local museum today," he said, his tone neutral. "They were opening a special exhibit in my honour." He looked away. "I told them I couldn't make it."

Riley's heart gave a funny little squeeze. "You knew it was Valentine's Day, didn't you?"

Ben nodded, apparently absorbed in the carpet's swirling patterns.

"And you wanted to spend the day with me anyway?"

Ben half-smiled, and shook his head. "I wanted to spend time with you _because_ it was Valentine's Day, not in spite of it."

Riley blinked at him. "Oh, he said, then: "Does that mean I can kiss you?"

Ben jerked his head up and stared at his friend, whose mouth twitched up in a smile as he leaned closer.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ben," he murmured.

Ben smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day."

It was 11:59 pm when their lips finally met, in a kiss that was mind-blowing, heart-stopping, earth-shattering and completely, one hundred percent perfect.

And when Riley's computer announced that Valentine's Day was over and it was now the 15th of February, they were too distracted to notice.

* * *

**I'm actually not sure if I like this, so I'd love to know what you think of it, please! Reviews of any kind are much appreciated. Thanks :)**


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